Fruit cake and stollen – you either like them or you hate them. I think there is nothing in between. You’re either a friend of these heavy and very sweet bakes, or you are not ;P I am one of the persons that likes bakes like this Victorian Christmas Fruit Cake. However, I’m not allowed to eat as much of it as I used to, because there is quite a lot of sugar in these bakes. What can you do… that’s how it is ;P
In the past, we rarely had fruit cake at home – we were more of a “Weihachtsstollen” family. However, my mom did not bake stollen when I was young, she always bought them. I baked my first Stollen and also fruit cake quite late in my life ;) So there is no real tradition for these recipes in our family… very different from regular Christmas cookies. My mom baked tons of them each year and, of course, at some point, I helped make them… and still love to bake them today.
So fruit cake has been “en vogue” in our home for a few years only. I can’t exactly remember when I made the first one but it must have been before I started baking stuff for this blog here. The recipe was from an English magazine I found somewhere… over the years I changed a few things here and there, but it’s still very close to the original bake. So thank you unknown author – a really nice recipe! ;)
I think the original recipe used a bit more sugar. If I’m not wrong I think a fruit cake aka. Dundee Cake (as I recently learned) should have at least 30% of candied/dried fruits in it. Looking at this recipe here… this one uses 1.1 kg of fruits which makes in comparison with the other ingredients more or less 50%. Well, what was the saying? More is more? ;P
Unfortunately, that means a lot of sugar from the fruits has to be added to the sugar in the dough. You could replace the regular sugar with xylitol or erythritol, but compared to the sugar from the fruits… that would be the much smaller amount ;P Well… some of it is “natural” sugar coming from the fruits and that is not “added industrial sugar” – but it’s still, all in all, quite a bit. I just want you to keep that in mind. A person like me should not eat much of it… but that’s ok. I can eat a small slice only and still enjoy it a lot! Also… you’re not eating that all year long. Only at Christmas ;P
INGREDIENTS / ZUTATEN
For the rum fruits:
10.6 oz. (300g) red glacé cherries, chopped
5.3 oz. (150g) pineapple (from a can), chopped
12.3 oz. (350g) dried soft apricots, chopped
3.5 oz. (100g) blanched almonds, chopped
10.6 oz. (300g) raisins
zest of 1 organic orange
4 tbsp. dark rum
For the cake batter:
1 cup (240g) butter, softened
1 cup (200g) brown sugar
5 large eggs
2 cups (260g) all-purpose flour
2.8 oz. (80g) ground almonds
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
For the decoration:
some whole blanched almonds
some red glacé cherries
some candied pineapple
1-2 tbsp. apricot jam
Für die eingelegten Früchte:
300g rote Belegkirschen, gehackt
150g Ananas (aus der Dose), gehackt
350g getrocknete (weiche) Aprikosen, gehackt
100g blanchierte Mandeln, gehackt
300g Rosinen
Abrieb von 1 Bio-Orange
4 EL dunkler Rum
Für den Teig:
240g weiche Butter
200g brauner Zucker
5 große Eier
260g Mehl (Type 550)
80g Mandeln, gemahlen
2 1/2 TL Backpulver
1/4 TL Salz
Für die Dekoration:
einige ganze blanchierte Mandeln
einige rote Belegkirschen
einige kandierte Ananasstücke
1-2 EL Aprikosenkonfitüre
DIRECTIONS / ZUBEREITUNG
1. Start the day before by chopping the cherries, pineapple, dried apricots, and blanched almonds to get small dices/pieces. Add together with the raisins, orange zest, and rum to a bowl and mix until well combined. Cover and place in the fridge overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 280°F (140°C). Grease a 9 inches (23cm) springform tin lightly and line with baking parchment – bottom and sides. If the rim of the tin is shorter than 3 inches (8cm) I recommend extending the sides of the tin with the baking parchment. Set aside.
3. Add the butter and brown sugar for the cake batter to a large bowl and mix until light and fluffy. Add the eggs on after another and mix well after each addition. Mix the flour with the ground almonds, baking powder, and salt and add to the bowl – mix until just combined. Add the boozy fruit mix and fold in. Spoon the batter into the prepared springform tin and smooth out the top. Decorate the top with the almonds, cherries, and pineapple pieces. Bake for 130-140 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Check after 60-90 minutes and cover the cake with some aluminum foil if the top gets too dark. Take out of the oven and let cool down in the tin for about 20-30 minutes, then remove from the tin and place on a wire rack. Warm up the apricot jam and brush the top and sides of the cake thinly with the jam. Let it cool down completely.
1. Am Vortag die Belegkirschen, Ananas, Aprikosen und Mandeln hacken und dann zusammen mit den Rosinen, dem Orangenabrieb und dem Rum in einer kleinen Schüssel vermischen. Abgedeckt über Nacht in den Kühlschrank stellen.
2. Den Ofen auf 140°C (280°F) Ober-/Unterhitze vorheizen. Eine 23cm (9 inches) große Springform leicht einfetten und mit Backpapier auslegen – sowohl den Boden und die Seiten. Wenn der Rand der Form niedriger als 8cm (3 inches) ist, sollte man das Backpapier über den Rand hinaus stehen lassen, quasi als Erhöhung des Randes. Zur Seite stellen.
3. Butter und braunen Zucker in eine große Schüssel geben und hell und luftig aufschlagen. Die Eier einzeln zur Schüssel dazugeben und jeweils gut unterrühren. Das Mehl mit Mandeln, Backpulver und Salz vermischen und zur Schüssel dazugeben und unterrühren. Die eingelegten Früchte zur Schüssel dazugeben und unterheben. Den Teig in die vorbereitete Form füllen und glatt streichen. Mit Mandeln, Kirschen und kandierten Ananasstücken nach Belieben dekorieren und dann für 130-140 Minuten backen. Mit einem Holzspieß testen, ob noch Teig kleben bleibt und den Kuchen erst herausholen, wenn dieser sauber herauskommt. Nach etwa 60-90 Minnuten Backzeit checken und den Kuchen ggf. mit etwas Alufolie abdecken, sollte die Oberfläche zu dunkel werden. Den fertigen Kuchen in der Form für etwa 20-30 Minuten abkühlen lassen, dann aus der Form lösen und auf einem Kuchengitter abkühlen lassen. Die Aprikosenmarmelade etwas erwärmen, damit sie weicher wird, dann den noch warmen Kuchen komplett damit dünn bestreichen. Den Kuchen komplett auskühlen lassen.
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Here is a version of the recipe you can print easily.
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Victorian Christmas Fruit Cake
- Prep Time: 00:25
- Cook Time: 02:20
- Total Time: 12:00
- Yield: 1 1x
- Category: Cakes
- Cuisine: Great Britain
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
A classic bake for Christmas from the UK with a lot of fans (but also haters): Victorian Christmas Fruit Cake. I like it a lot!
Ingredients
For the rum fruits:
10.6 oz. (300g) red glacé cherries, chopped
5.3 oz. (150g) pineapple (from a can), chopped
12.3 oz. (350g) dried soft apricots, chopped
3.5 oz. (100g) blanched almonds, chopped
10.6 oz. (300g) raisins
zest of 1 organic orange
4 tbsp. dark rum
For the cake batter:
1 cup (240g) butter, softened
1 cup (200g) brown sugar
5 large eggs
2 cups (260g) all-purpose flour
2.8 oz. (80g) ground almonds
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
For the decoration:
some whole blanched almonds
some red glacé cherries
some candied pineapple
1-2 tbsp. apricot jam
Instructions
1. Start the day before by chopping the cherries, pineapple, dried apricots, and blanched almonds to get small dices/pieces. Add together with the raisins, orange zest, and rum to a bowl and mix until well combined. Cover and place in the fridge overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 280°F (140°C). Grease a 9 inches (23cm) springform tin lightly and line with baking parchment – bottom and sides. If the rim of the tin is shorter than 3 inches (8cm) I recommend extending the sides of the tin with the baking parchment. Set aside.
3. Add the butter and brown sugar for the cake batter to a large bowl and mix until light and fluffy. Add the eggs on after another and mix well after each addition. Mix the flour with the ground almonds, baking powder, and salt and add to the bowl – mix until just combined. Add the boozy fruit mix and fold in. Spoon the batter into the prepared springform tin and smooth out the top. Decorate the top with the almonds, cherries, and pineapple pieces. Bake for 130-140 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Check after 60-90 minutes and cover the cake with some aluminum foil if the top gets too dark. Take out of the oven and let cool down in the tin for about 20-30 minutes, then remove from the tin and place on a wire rack. Warm up the apricot jam and brush the top and sides of the cake thinly with the jam. Let it cool down completely.
Notes
Enjoy baking!
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As far as I can remember, I believe this is called Dundee Cake. Looks lovely!
That’s true. Learned that recently too :D
Cheers!